Average Jane Reads

My husband tried his best to sync his schedule with mine before we left for Nashville, but that just meant that I woke up four hours earlier than he did instead of the usual eight. Fortunately, travel in the age of the Kindle (or in my case, the iPad Kindle app) means that there's no real limit to the number of books that you can take with you on vacation.

Thus, I had a wonderful amount of leisure time to read on our trip and I took full advantage of it.

First on the list was Bitch in a Bonnet: Reclaiming Jane Austen From the Stiffs, the Snobs, the Simps and the Saps (Volume 1) by Robert Rodi. It's an e-publication from the author of a blog by the same name. The entertainment value it provided far exceeded the 99¢ it cost to download, so I recommend it or its pricer trade paperback version without reservation. The book examines and snarks on Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park in such a highly entertaining manner that it didn't even matter to me that I'd only read two of the three source books.

His blog is temporarily on hiatus, right near the beginning of Emma, which is a big disappointment. So buy the book because Emma is really long and it's going to take a while.

After that I read The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut because someone had mentioned it on a blog right before I left. It's definitely a science fiction classic and it seemed familiar enough that it's possible that I'd read it as a youth and then forgotten the majority of it.

Last but certainly not least was Let's Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson, a.k.a. The Bloggess. If you're reading this, you probably already know all about the book and have it in your possession now, but if that's not the case, seriously, go buy it. I'll wait.

I laughed so much while I was reading this book that I cried off all my mascara before I got past the first few chapters.

As I read how Jenny felt that being around strangers made her do awkward and embarrassing things, it reminded me that the one time I met her at BlogHer, it wasn't five minutes before I dropped an entire iced latte on the floor of the hotel lobby right in front of the entire group of bloggers she was with. I may have splashed some of them. So who's awkward and embarrassing now, Jenny?

Apparently I'd blocked that from my mind until the book made me remember. Luckily I'm fairly immune to embarrassment anyway.

Now that I'm back home, I've moved on to Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher, an upcoming book club selection. I like it so far. The writing reminds me a little of Louise Penny, although I suspect this book is not going to be a mystery novel.

I also read Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher for another book club. It's really short, so it only took me a couple of hours. It was sassy and gossipy, but tinged with a lot of weight from the problems she's had.

What are you reading these days?

Disclaimer: Links are provided only for your convenience. Exhortations to purchase the books merely reflect my enthusiasm and purchases will not benefit me in any way unless you want to have a conversation about them afterward.

Comments

[WorkingBoomer]

Great blog! I am reading the book, Quiet. It is about intraverts in an extraverts world. It is very enlightening.

[Nuke]

I just finished Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey. Sci-FI horror with a touch of mystery/noir. Anxious for book 2 in the trilogy.

Before that it was The Blogess's book. Once I got over how gorram funy it was I was amazed to realize that there is som very personal stuff in there about her anxiety disorder and whatnot. That lady can WRITE!

Unfortunately with both unread books on my coffee table and in all three reader apps on the iPad I cannot decide what to start now.